Blessed by Rain

3. Skill

Reminder y'all, Hizashi never dies since Hinata wasn't rescued and the Kumo never demanded a Hyuga since they accused em of snatching the heiress

Also, Sasori is super OOC I keep thinking of him as the one in Stumble by writer168

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Four months.

It's been four months since she moved into Amegakure.

It was quickly becoming a comfort, a familiarity, a—a home. It was a realization that made Hinata's stomach churn with guilt and something unpleasant, but also relief and happiness. Both ways made her feel like crying.

Kosu, the gate guard who found her, often stopped by to say hello. They also saw each other in passing, and it was rather nice.

One day, Hinata paused in her daily run when she heard something. Hinata was happy to take a break; Ame might not be elevated with thin air like Kumo, but it was always wet, and wet meant learning how to keep your balance. It was a hard, tiring, and dirty task, but Hinata kept at it.

It was Sunday, Hinata's favorite day of the week. It's not that she hated the rain—she loved the rain, it made her feel safe and comforting—but she adored the smell of the air fresh after rain, with the sun shining on her face and the market she went to with Haku every week without fail, she loved it.

But that's beside the point. She heard something.

A violin.

She thought back to her own violin, one she kept on her desk in her apartment (Haku took her furniture shopping), and focused back on her surroundings. It was a bit harder to make sense of the noise bouncing off of obstructions as it didn't originate from her, but she made do.

Someone was on the second floor, playing the violin on the balcony. And that someone's chakra signature made Hinata perk up visibly.

She had tried her hand at the violin. If she tried, she could remember a woman playing it a lot, especially for Hinata, a long long time ago. She could mimic the woman—no, that's your mom, how could you forget your mother's face—! She could mimic her movements well enough to handle the violin.

Somewhat.

Haku always found it delightful, but he thought nearly everything was delightful, so that didn't count.

And, if her memory serves her well, the violinist was none other than Kosu.

He noticed her—of course he noticed her—and beckoned her in with a smile. He saw the violin case in her hands, the way her grip tightened in something akin to determination and frustration in a mixed pot of feelings.

He grinned, patted her head, and invited him to sit down beside him and allow him to guide hands into the right string and the right way to hold the bow.

He explained that sometimes, he could infuse it all with chakra, and use a sound-type genjutsu. Not that he really took a violin out on missions.

Hinata decided she would just focus on learning how to play a simple song.

Kosu told her the notes, and today they were supposed to work on a song. Hinata couldn't read sheet music, but she was excellent at learning by ear.

She was on her way to his apartment one Tuesday afternoon when she noticed an interesting chakra signature approach.

It—It was wooden. That was odd. But it held chakra, chakra that belonged to a person. How peculiar.

She felt him pause just before they passed, then suddenly stepped right and had her collide with it. Him? Her?